Stationary massage device, system and methods for soft tissue strain release

ABSTRACT

A stationary massage device, system and corresponding methods are used for self-administrated or assisted soft tissue strain release (including trigger point therapy, strain-and-counterstrain therapy and neuromuscular release). The massage device comprises a body, wherein the body may include branches, each having flat surfaces, edges, ridges or corners. The surfaces, edges and ridges may be pushed along the myofilament direction of the soft tissues to produce pressing, rubbing, stretching and pulling actions on the soft tissues as stripping massages. The system can be configured to form different geometric shapes, and made of different materials of different firmness. The system can be further configured to perform unheated, or heated massages; and cooling treatments. In addition to being used alone, the system can be mounted on a piece of wall, a standing frame, furniture or a garment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a Divisional Application of a pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/658,413 filed on Jul. 25, 2017. TheDisclosure made in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/658,413 is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to soft tissue strain release (includingtrigger point therapy, strain-and-counterstrain therapy andneuromuscular release) therapy devices, systems and methods. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to soft tissue strainrelease therapy which emphasizes stripping and passive stretching.

BACKGROUND

Soft tissue strain release (including trigger point,strain-and-counterstrain and neuromuscular release) therapy is a methodcommonly used by physical and massage therapists, osteopaths andchiropractors to treat soft tissue relate pains, and to restore physicalhealthiness and functions of a patient. A properly design soft tissuestrain release device or system can facilitate the practice of thesehealth care professional, and reduce the risk of their work injuries. Itcan also enable the patients to perform self-administrated therapiesaway from a clinic, and increase the frequency of the intervention asthey are often time required.

Conventionally available devices for this application herein describedare canes, balls, rollers and hand-held or mounted probes. Theygenerally make contact with the body in two shapes: ball or cylinder.The rolling or probing action mainly generates forces perpendicular tothe skin surface, which are called normal forces. They generaterelatively low amount of forces lateral to the skin surface, which arecalled shear forces, compared to stripping massage as a massagetherapist does with his or her hands. Therefore, the conventionalmassage devices don't achieve the full effectiveness of the hand massagethat involves stripping actions. A massage device such as in U.S. Pat.No. 5,643,182 demonstrates a cylinder-shaped massager that rolls on theskin. Massage devices such as in U.S. Pat. No. 8,932,322 andUS20130085426 demonstrate ball-shaped massagers that probe at triggerpoints.

In order to generate sufficient shear forces to achieve the fulleffectiveness of a massage therapy, the massage device must possess thefollowing capabilities: 1) sitting still against the movement of theuser's body, 2) distributes the forces in strip shape (long and narrow),moving in parallel (0 degree) along or at a small angle to the directionof the myofilaments.

Ideally, this massage device should still have pointy parts available toprobe trigger points alone. It should be able to fit various locationsof the body, too, stripping and probing alike. It should further addressthe needs of a massage with heating and cooling treatments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Disclosed herein is the present invention “Stationary Massage Device,System and Methods for Soft Tissue Strain Release”. The object of thepresent invention is to provide an apparatus, a system, and methods thatcan facilitate self-administrated as well as assisted stripping andprobing massage therapies.

It is yet another objective of the invention to provide a massagedevice, a system, and methods which temperature can be raised or loweredto meet the requirements of certain treatments.

In one embodiment, the soft tissue strain release system comprises atool. The tool comprises a bar-shaped body, wherein the body includesmultiple surfaces. The surfaces form edges, ridges or corners: the edgesdefined by the joint of two surfaces; the ridges defined by a strip offlat narrower surface rising above some of other surfaces, or sitting onthe top of some of its surrounding surfaces when the body lies atcertain positions; and the corners defined by pointy parts that may beformed by the joint of three or more surfaces.

In another embodiment, the soft tissue strain release system comprises atool. The tool comprises a body, wherein the body includes one ormultiple sections connected together, each section constituting anembodiment of the hereinbefore mentioned embodiment.

In yet another embodiment, the soft tissue strain release systemcomprises a tool. The tool comprises a body, wherein the body includesone or multiple of the embodiments mentioned hereinbefore, and a heatingsource surrounding around or embedded inside the body.

The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for thesubject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanyingthe appended drawings for people skilled in this field to wellappreciate the features of the claimed invention. It is understood thatthe features mentioned hereinbefore and those to be commented onhereinafter may be used not only in the specified combinations, but alsoin other combinations or in isolation, without departing from the scopeof the present invention.

Advantageous Effects of the Invention

The present invention “Stationary Massage Device, System and Methods forSoft Tissue Strain Release” has the following main advantageouseffects: 1) having a flat and branched surface to form a stable bottom,and allowing the massage system to have a good grip on the surface wherethe massage system sits, producing the stability for shear forcegeneration a stripping massage requires; 2) having the flexibility ofdoing any combination of stripping and probing massages through thecombination of the edges and corners made in different orientations inone single system; 3) simply by rotating the system and aligning it atdifferent angles with respect to his or her body, the user being able topress two trigger points separated by various distances; 4) havingdifferent geometric shapes formed by different ends of differentsections permitting the users to fit said system in different locationsof their bodies; 4) each branch or section of the system serving any ofthe following purposes: a contact component, a handle and an anchor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stationary message device for softtissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a stationary message device for soft tissuestrain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a stationary message device for softtissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a stationary message device for softtissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a horizontal cross section view of a stationary message devicefor soft tissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a horizontal cross section view of a stationary message devicefor soft tissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a stationary message device for softtissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a stationary message device for softtissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a stationary message device for softtissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a stationary message device for softtissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a stationary message device for softtissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a stationary message device for softtissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 13-34 are illustrations of the use of a stationary message devicefor soft tissue strain release according to certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following descriptions, the present invention will be explainedwith reference to example embodiments thereof. However, these exampleembodiments are not intended to limit the present invention to anyspecific example, embodiment, environment, applications or particularimplementations described in these example embodiments. Therefore,description of these embodiments is only for purpose of illustrationrather than to limit the present invention. It should be appreciatedthat, in the following embodiments and the attached drawings, elementsunrelated to the present invention are omitted from depiction; anddimensional relationships among individual elements in the attacheddrawings are illustrated only for ease of understanding, but not tolimit the actual scale.

Referring first to FIG. 1-10, various embodiments of the presentinvention of stationary massage device for soft tissue strain releaseare shown. Referring to FIG. 1, the device comprises a body 100including multiple surfaces 201-208, edges 211-216, and corners 221-226.The surfaces 201-208 can be of any shape, preferably a polygon such as atrapezoid, a rectangle, a triangle or a square. The edges 211-216 formedat the junction of two of the surfaces 201-208, can have curvatures ofany radius, small radius for deeper stripping massage actions, and largeradius for more superficial rubbing actions. The corners 221-226 areformed where 3 or more of the surfaces 201-208 join together. Thecorners 221-226 may have curvatures of any radius. These examples of theembodiments of the present invention are provided to facilitate thedescription and understanding, but not to limit the choices ofimplementation.

Referring to FIG. 1-4, two bodies 100 and 101 with different proportionsof the top surfaces 208 and the bottom surfaces 203 are illustrated. Asdemonstrated, the surfaces 201-208 and edges 211-216 can be made ofdifferent proportions without departing from the scope of the invention.The body of the massage device may comprise a single section or multiplesections connected to each other. Each of the sections thereof can bemade straight or curved. As illustrated in FIG. 1-2, the body of thedevice includes three connected sections that form together a T-shapedcross section on its horizontal planes.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate embodiments having different top views, onehaving T shape, and the other F shape. Comprising different counts andshapes of said sections allows the user to reach different locations ofhis or her body.

Referring to FIG. 7, an embodiment of the present invention comprisesbody 104 that has a plurality of smaller components 301-310, each havingpegs 311 and holes 312 to hold each other together when assembled.Components 301-310 can be arranged in any style to scale up or down thedimensions of any surface, and any edge of body 104. The sizes, theshapes and the numbers of components 301-310, and of their pegs 311 andholes 312 can be varied without departing from the scope of theinvention. The methods of bonding components 301-310 is not limited topegs 311 and holes 312 as exemplified in FIG. 7. There are presented tofacilitate the illustration of the present invention, and can bereplaced with other methods such as screws, Velcro or glue withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

The bodies 100-104 shown in FIG. 1-7 can be made of any type of naturalor manmade materials, such as wood, glass, metal, plastic, rubber, andceramic, or of a combination of two or more of them. Referring to FIG.8, an embodiment 105 of the present invention comprising two differentmaterials is shown. Body 105 includes body 100 made of a hard material,and wrapper 400 made of soft fabric. Wrapper 400 permits the user tochange the firmness and the texture of the contacts, and, in turn, thedepth of the pressing and the friction of rubbing, respectively. A tail401 of wrapper 400 may be made as an extension to facilitate thehandling and the anchoring during application.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, wrapper 500 for heated massage isillustrated. In this embodiment, body 100 is wrapped by a heatingwrapper 500. Heating wrapper 500 comprises pockets 501 that contain ricegrains, beans or any material with practically high heat capacity thatcan be heated up by microwave, thereafter, hold the heat, and graduallyrelease the heat over a reasonably long period of time. The wrapper 500may include, but not limited to, a securing method Velcro tape 502.

Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, another heating method is illustrated. Inthis embodiment, body 100 is wrapped by electrically heated blanketwrapper 600.

FIG. 13-34 demonstrate the use of one of the embodiments of the presentinvention of stationary massage devices for soft tissue strain release.Referring to FIG. 17-24, the user identifies the zones needed to betreated, lying face up if the zones are found on the back side, or lyingface down if the zones are on the frontal side. The user thereafter putsdevice 100 under his or her body, and presses the soft tissues againstthe edges and/or corners of device 100 with his or her body weight andmovement. Stationary massage device 100 sits still, stretching, rubbingor probing the soft tissues as the user moves his or her body. With someadjustment on the location and the angle of device 100 after it isplaced, the user finds the optimal position to perform the massage.Simultaneous stripping, rubbing and probing at various locations inproximity are performed that yields the effects most similar to massagesby the hands of a physical therapist or a masseuse. This is what aconventional cylinder-shaped roller, or a spherical or pointy probemassage device cannot do.

Referring to FIG. 25, an embodiment of stationary massage device 100including components hooks 701 and strings is 702 is illustrated. Thesecuring components such as 701 and 702 enable the device to be mountedon furniture. In this example, device 100 is mounted on a chair. Thissystem can be very useful in reducing the risk of repetitive stress(strain) injury at a work place when it is made commonly available, andits self-administrated massage as a common practice is promoted.

Referring to FIG. 26, an embodiment of stationary massage device 108 isshaped and sized in such a way that the user may recline in it as achair or a couch. Having his or her strained soft tissues in the back orin the shoulder areas, the user may sit with his or her back pressed andmoved against one of the edges of device 108. Similarly, the user maylie facing downward with his or her chest leaning toward the device totreat the strained soft tissues in the chest or in abdominal areas.System including device 108 or a furniture comprising device 108 is veryuseful at a rehabilitation center, a nursing home, or even a work placewhere regular soft-tissue-strain-releasing exercise is a key componentof maintaining or restoring the healthiness of its member.

Referring to FIG. 27-31, a single or multiple stationary massage devices100 are mounted on a standing mounting frame 801-805. They providefurther stability and flexibility. The mounting positions of stationarymassage devices 100 can be configured differently as shown. Theflexibility permits the user to access certain hard-to-reach areas thatcan be only exposed when the user is sitting or reclining in some uniquepositions the standing frame enables him or her to take. However, thesystems with mounting frames 801-804 required more space, and aren't aseasy to carry around as a portable counterpart. Therefore, they aresuitable for clinic applications where many users may visit and sharethe equipment. They are also very suitable for fitness centers, sportsclubs, pharmacy, shopping centers or places like these where a largerspace and public access are available, and the exercises of earlyprevention of the sports-related injuries are beneficial.

FIG. 28 shows a massage system 802 in examples of the presentdisclosure. The massage system 802 comprises a standing mounting frame2820 and a plurality of massage devices 2860. The standing mountingframe 2820 comprises a first standing member 2822, a second standingmember 2824, one or more connection members 2840 connecting the firststanding member 2822 to the second standing member 2824, and one or moremounting bars 2850 attached to the first standing member 2822 and thesecond standing member 2824. The plurality of massage devices 2860 aremounted on the one or more mounting bars 2850 of the standing mountingframe 2820.

The first standing member 2822 comprises a first floor element 2811extending along X direction, and a first post element 2813 attached tothe first floor element 2811. The first post element 2813 extends alongZ direction. The second standing member 2824 comprises a second floorelement 2831 extending along X direction, and a second post element 2833attached to the second floor element 2831. The second post element 2833extends along Z direction.

The one or more connection members 2840 comprise a first connectionmember 2842, and a second connection member 2844. The one or moreconnection members 2840 extend along Y direction. The second connectionmember 2844 is closer to the first floor element 2811 than the firstconnection member 2842.

The one or more mounting bars 2850 comprises a first mounting bar 2852,and a second mounting bar 2854. The one or more mounting bars 2850extend along Y direction. The second mounting bar 2854 is closer to thefirst floor element 2811 than the first mounting bar 2852.

The plurality of massage devices 2860 comprise a first massage device2862 directly attached to the first mounting bar 2852, a second massagedevice 2864 directly attached to the first mounting bar 2852, a thirdmassage device 2866 directly attached to the second mounting bar 2854,and a fourth massage device 2868 directly attached to the secondmounting bar 2854. The plurality of massage devices 2860 extend along Xdirection.

The massage system is characterized by a first condition (see FIG. 28)and a second condition (see FIG. 31). In the first condition (see FIG.28), a distance between the first massage device 2862 and the secondmassage device 2864 is larger than a distance between the third massagedevice 2866 and the fourth massage device 2868. The user sits on thethird massage device 2866 and the fourth massage device 2868. In thesecond condition (see FIG. 31), the distance between the first massagedevice 3162 and the second massage device 3164 is smaller than thedistance between the third massage device 3166 and the fourth massagedevice 3168. The first thigh of the user contacts the third massagedevice 3166. The second thigh of the user contacts the fourth massagedevice 3168. A side massage device 3190 is directly attached to thefirst post element 2813 of the first standing member 2822 of thestanding mounting frame 2820. The side massage device 3190 extends alongX direction. A space 3199 between the third massage device 3166 and theside massage device 3190 is configured to receive a leg of the user.Still in the second condition (see FIG. 30), a top massage device 3097is directly attached to the first mounting bar 2852. The top massagedevice 3097 extends along X direction. A space 3081 between the firstmassage device 2862 and the top massage device 3097 is configured toreceive an arm of the user.

Referring now to FIG. 29, the massage system further comprises a firstsupporting massage device 2952 directly attached to the first mountingbar 2852, a second supporting massage device 2954 directly attached tothe second mounting bar 2854, a third supporting massage device 2956directly attached to the third massage device 2866 and the fourthmassage device 2868, and a fourth supporting massage device 2958directly attached to the third massage device 2866. A neck of the usercontacts the first supporting massage device 2952. A back of the usercontacts the second supporting massage device 2954. A buttock of theuser contacts the third supporting massage device 2956. A thigh of theuser contacts the fourth supporting massage device 2958.

Referring now to FIG. 27, the massage system further comprises asupporting massage device 2776 directly attached to the first mountingbar 2852. The supporting massage device 2776 extends along Z direction.A back of a user contacts the supporting massage device 2776.

Referring to FIG. 32-33, an embodiment with Velcro garment 901comprising massage system 100 is shown. Referring to FIG. 34, similarly,an embodiment with strap or belt massage wear 902 comprising system 100is shown. They provide further flexibilities of the use of the currentinvention.

The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents andinventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceedwith a variety of modifications and replacements based on thedisclosures and suggestions of the invention as described withoutdeparting from the characteristics thereof. Although such modificationsand replacements may not be fully disclosed in the above descriptions,the following claims will further cover possible variations within thescope of the invention.

1. A massage system comprising a standing mounting frame comprising afirst standing member; a second standing member; one or more connectionmembers connecting the first standing member to the second standingmember; and one or more mounting bars attached to the first standingmember and the second standing member; and a plurality of massagedevices mounted on the one or more mounting bars of the standingmounting frame.
 2. The massage system of claim 1, wherein the firststanding member comprises a first floor element extending along a firstdirection; and a first post element attached to the first floor element,the first post element being extending along a second directionperpendicular to the first direction; and wherein the second standingmember comprises a second floor element extending along the firstdirection; and a second post element attached to the second floorelement, the second post element being extending along the seconddirection.
 3. The massage system of claim 2, wherein the one or moreconnection members comprise a first connection member; and a secondconnection member; wherein the one or more connection members extendalong a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and thesecond direction; and wherein the second connection member is closer tothe first floor element than the first connection member.
 4. The massagesystem of claim 3, wherein the one or more mounting bars comprises afirst mounting bar; and a second mounting bar; wherein the one or moremounting bars extend along the third direction; and wherein the secondmounting bar is closer to the first floor element than the firstmounting bar.
 5. The massage system of claim 4, wherein the plurality ofmassage devices comprise a first massage device directly attached to thefirst mounting bar; a second massage device directly attached to thefirst mounting bar; a third massage device directly attached to thesecond mounting bar; and a fourth massage device directly attached tothe second mounting bar; wherein the plurality of massage devices extendalong the first direction.
 6. The massage system of claim 5, wherein themassage system is characterized by a first condition in which a distancebetween the first massage device and the second massage device is largerthan a distance between the third massage device and the fourth massagedevice; and a second condition in which the distance between the firstmassage device and the second massage device is smaller than thedistance between the third massage device and the fourth massage device.7. The massage system of claim 6, wherein the massage system is furthercharacterized by the first condition in which the third massage deviceand the fourth massage device are configured to be sit by a user; andthe second condition in which the third massage device and the fourthmassage device are configured to be contacted by a first thigh and asecond thigh of the user respectively.
 8. The massage system of claim 7,wherein a side massage device is directly attached to the first postelement of the first standing member of the standing mounting frame andwherein the side massage device extends along the first direction. 9.The massage system of claim 8, wherein the massage system is furthercharacterized by the second condition in which a space between the thirdmassage device and the side massage device is configured to receive aleg of the user.
 10. The massage system of claim 7, wherein a topmassage device is directly attached to the first mounting bar andwherein the top massage device extends along the first direction. 11.The massage system of claim 10, wherein the massage system is furthercharacterized by the second condition in which a space between the firstmassage device and the top massage device is configured to receive anarm of the user.
 12. The massage system of claim 7 further comprising afirst supporting massage device directly attached to the first mountingbar; a second supporting massage device directly attached to the secondmounting bar; a third supporting massage device directly attached to thethird massage device and the fourth massage device; and a fourthsupporting massage device directly attached to the third massage device.13. The massage system of claim 12, wherein the massage system isfurther characterized by the first condition in which the firstsupporting massage device is configured to be contacted by a neck of theuser; the second supporting massage device is configured to be contactedby a back of the user; the third supporting massage device is configuredto be contacted by a buttock of the user; and the fourth supportingmassage device is configured to be contacted by a thigh of the user. 14.The massage system of claim 5 further comprising a supporting massagedevice directly attached to the first mounting bar; wherein thesupporting massage device extends along the second direction; andwherein the supporting massage device is configured to be contacted by aback of a user.